Gregory & the Hawk
Moenie and Kitchi
FatCat
Much in the same way that novelist Mary Ann Evans took on the name George Eliot so that her work would be taken seriously in a male-dominated field, so has singer/songwriter Meredith Godreau adopted the whimsical name of Gregory & the Hawk to record under. Rather than fall into the bin with the likes of other female vocalists like Lykke Li, Rachel Yamagata, or Regina Spektor (none of whom does she sound even remotely like), Godreau has taken herself out of the mix by disguising her gender within an odd band name.
Gregory & the Hawk began in 2003 as a solo project that found Godreau holding down vocals, songwriting, guitar, piano, and violin duties. Eventually she opened her arms up to Mike McGuire, who’s enigmatically credited for “short stories,” and a small list of other musicians who have helped bring Godreau’s vision to fruition both in the studio and onstage.
After selling 15,000 copies of her first self-released album without the aid of a label, FatCat Records snatched her up and Moenie and Kitchi was born. What the album holds, for those lucky souls who actually pause upon it long enough to stick it in the disc player and press play, is both gorgeous and aching. The songwriting of Godreau is simple enough to pass for pop music, but smart enough to satisfy the college crowd who are infinitely looking for something deeper.
Where Gregory & the Hawk really fly is in the sweet, bell-like vocals of Godreau herself. Not as bouncy as Frente’s Angie Hart, nor as soaring as Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays, Godreau falls somewhere in between the two in terms of sound. Breathy and sweet, dripping with pain while lightening up the sky, hers is a voice that could silence a room and break many hearts. This, as much as the impossibly pretty melodies of songs I can’t get out of my head (“Doubtful,”“Grey Weather,” “Voice Like a Bell,”), is Gregory & the Hawk’s secret weapon.
Gregory & the Hawk: http://www.gregoryandthehawk.com
